The Assassin
by evil.mastermind no.1
Summary: It's the end of the war and the nations celebrate the new founded peace. But a dark influential organization wants to have the war back so that they can continue their corrupting business. They assign an assassin with killing Team Avatar but what's when she has her own goals and plans? Is there even a chance for peace to exist?
1. Rule no 1: An Assassin is always busy

**I always wanted to write an Avatar story, now I finally have a vague idea for it. I don't know yet what direction the story will take or how long it will be, but there will be action, adventures, humor, suspense, slight romance and plot twists. I will also try to keep everyone in character. Also English is not my mother tongue so please forgive the mistakes I'm making.**

**Disclamier: I own nothing what also appears in Avatar: The last airbender. Everything else is taken from my imagination.**

**Have fun reading.**

_Assassin rule no 1: Even in times of peace an assassin is never out of work_

It was in a small town in the northern Earth Kingdom. The hundred years of war were finally over, prince Zuko was now the new Fire Lord, his ruthless father in prison, and together with the Avatar they were about to bring peace and balance back to the world.

The people all around the nations were joyful and were celebrating for the last days since the proclamation that the war was really over had been announced, and the citizens of this small Earth Kingdom town were no exception. Although it was already near midnight the streets of the small town were lit from dozens of lanterns and candles, the people took out their best vines they had stored away during the war, waiting for a good moment to drink them. They shared their meals so that everyone regardless of being rich or poor was full these days, soldiers had returned from the front lines to their families and homes, and people from the Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom walked through the streets arms in arms, joking.

It was a historical event. Everyone was happy… almost everyone.

For some people the news of the end of the war had been the worst news they had heard in a long time. During the war they had formed an organization with business men from the Fire Nation as well as from the Earth Kingdom. They all had been profited from the war for years and now they were about to lose everything. But of course they wouldn't just watch how the peace agreement would destroy their evil plots and intrigues, so they hired someone who should take care of it. The person was an assassin, the very best which existed.

This night they met despise of the parties in one of the dark side roads of that small Earth Kingdom town in a secret back room where they were supposed to meet the assassin. The seven assembled men, three from the Earth Kingdom, four from the Fire Nation, were the top of their organization and they would stop from nothing to be able to continue their wealthy business.

It was exactly midnight when they heard a knock on the door.

A brown-haired forty year old man who was taller than the others in the room and dressed in Fire Nation clothes stood up and opened the door only slightly. Outside there was a hooded figure in a black cloak standing. Because of the darkness he could only see the outlines of the small chin of the figure.

"I'm here to talk with Kenta" the person, who was according to the voice a woman, spoke with an emotional voice.

"I am Kenta" the man said and opened the door wider. "We have waited for you. Come in please."

The cloaked woman followed him into the room where the rest of the assembled men were sitting around a round table. They were all over forty; most of them had already grey hair. In fact Kenta seemed to be the youngest of them.

"Please sit down" Kenta said and pointed at the chair he had been sitting on before but the guest preferred to stand in the shadows and leaned against the wall, not even thinking about removing the hood.

Kenta sat down without a comment or reaction to the slightly rude behavior of the woman and continued: "In the name of the order I would thank you to come here tonight. We already heard a lot of you and your excellent work and-" But the woman interrupted him:

"Please save the flattery but skip to the business part. Who is the target and how much will you pay?"

Some of the men frowned at her rude interruption but Kenta only smirked and said: "If you finish this job with success we will give you so much money that you can settle down for the next years."

"I guess it's a difficult job then. Who's the target?"

Kenta smirked wider and some of the other men chuckled slightly while others watched her reaction carefully. "The water tribe siblings Sokka and Katara, Toph Beifong, the Fire Lord Zuko and finally the Avatar Aang; they are all your next targets."

The statement was followed by a long silence; every pair of eyes in the room was set on the assassin who seemed to be deep in thoughts. "Before I decide I would like to know first why I shouldn't only kill the Fire Lord and the Avatar, but also their friends…"

"It's because they are symbols of this revolutionary peace too. Even if we would get rid of the Avatar and the Fire Lord, their friends would still be in our way and make our business difficult."

"I see… You said I would earn enough money from the job … How much is enough?"

Kenta nodded to a thickly Fire Nation man sitting opposite of him who put three smaller boxes and two bigger ones onto the desk. "These boxes are all filled up with gold, three for the less troublesome targets, and two for the ultimate prize."

The woman moved to stand next to the thick man and opened each of the boxes, looking into them shortly.

"This will be my winning, but I want one more box to finance any additional costs that will come up."

Kenta nodded. "Of course it won't be a problem." Several men nodded silently, they all had enough money so that one more box wasn't exactly a problem. The real problem was that they had to get rid of the Avatar and the others who kept them from continuing their business, and this woman was their solution.

"I take it that we have a deal then" Kenta said smiling and stood up, stretching out a hand for the assassin to grab. A small pale hand appeared from under the cloak and grabbed his in a surprisingly firm grip.

"Yes, we have." She let go of his hand and took one of the smaller boxes from the desk. "This will be for the additional costs then, I'm sure you will be able to replace it until I have done the mission."

Kenta nodded. "We've got a spy placed in the royal palace. He will meet you in the tavern "Fiery Komodo rhino" outside the Fire Nation Capital to give you plans of the palace and the whereabouts of the targets. Also he will help and assist you if you wish."

The woman nodded and her hand disappeared under her cloak again, along with the box. "It is a pleasure to make business with you. I find out myself." She then turned around without saying anything more and left the bar.

Outside there were still people, mostly drunken, walking around on the main road but no one paid further attention to the cloaked figure as she quickly walked to the outskirts of the village and into the forest. On a cleaning she stopped and whistled three times loudly. For two minutes it was silent except for an owl-cat calling, the pitch-pat from water of the last rain fall dripping from the leaves, and a stick breaking nearby.

Suddenly a shadow appeared and a massive figure stepped out from under the trees, onto the cleaning. It was a big black wolf; its shoulders were on the height of the woman's chest. Red eyes were watching the human as the animal stepped closer. The wolf also had wings on its back with strong long brown feathers. That was the reason why the humans called these majestic big animals eagle-wolfs, but because of the red frightening eyes, the black fur and the secrets surrounding these creatures other names like demon-wolf, red-eyed-demon, or winged beast were no rareness although nowadays most people didn't even believe that they existed. They were nothing more than fairytales, myths, or even horror stories.

The eagle-wolf now stood in front of the woman who stretched an arm out to pet its head. The beautiful animal closed its eyes in like.

"I have to be in the Fire Nation tomorrow, can you bring me as fast as you can to the port in Senlin village?" The eagle-wolf growled in response and the cloaked figure stepped next to its side just to swing herself on its back. The eagle-wolf ducked just to spring forward and dashed running through the forest. In a blur it jumped over roots, plants, smaller trees; and made its way in lightning speed through the thick woods.

At the end of the forest was a cliff but the eagle-wolf didn't stop but jumped and spread its wings. These creatures weren't able to fly long distances like an air bison did but a jump down a cliff wasn't a problem for them.

Softly the eagle-wolf landed on the ground and continued running across the field, heading to Senlin village where the assassin continued her travel with a ferry while the eagle-wolf disappeared into the woods again.

The "Fiery Komodo rhino" was a tavern in the outskirts of the capital. It was crowded, too crowded for the woman's like but there wouldn't be another tavern which was less crowded around the capital anyway since the ceremony of the nomination of Fire Lord Zuko had only been five days and the people who came from all over the world and from the most different tribes weren't in a hurry to get home.

The assassin though still found a free desk in a dark corner and waited for the contact man to come with her hood still covering most of her face.

It was late afternoon, and only five minutes after the woman had arrived, a fire nation soldier dressed in civilian clothes and also hooded sat down opposite of her.

"You're early, Miss" he said showing his face and looking at her curiously from brown dark eyes. He was young, a little mustache, probably his first, covered his cheeks and his face was still wrinkles-free.

"Do you have the plans?" she only asked and the young man nodded and put them onto the desk.

"This is a detailed plan of the royal palace. Some of the securities left with the Fire Lord and the Avatar who are about to visit the bigger towns in Fire Nation, Earth Kingdom and the Northern Water Tribe because of this peace agreement. I can still only bring you this far into the palace though" he said and pointed to a building opposite to where here targets would be.

"That's not a problem" she said as the distance between the buildings was only about fifteen meters.

"I can give you back up if you want because in the next week I have shift in this section" he said and pointed to the main building. "I and three other guards are about to watch over the Avatar's friends."

The woman nodded as she was satisfied. "Alright, I will allow you to assist me but only under the condition that you will do exactly as I say. One mistake and the whole mission will fail, do you understand?" The young man nodded determined before he frowned slightly.

"May I ask you something? Why don't you wait until the Avatar and Fire Lord will come back, why kill them separately?"

She smirked but he couldn't see it because her face was still covered and she sat in the shadows. "You said it yourself: The guards lessened since the two left, when they come back the operation will be more difficult. Also the targets are too many and too skilled to be killed with one go. After eliminating at least three of them the remaining ones will notice what's going on and react, and then it would be difficult to take care of them also. No, trust me, the best way will be to kill them separately: First the smaller prices, then the mayor ones."

The man nodded smirking. "Alright, we shouldn't lose any more time then but head to the royal palace. Their so called peace won't last for so much longer…"

* * *

**So, that was the prolog... How did you like it? In the next chapter the Gaang except for Aang and Zuko will appear.  
**

**Please review!**


	2. Rule no 2: Be flexible

**Rule no 2: Be flexible, because everything can happen during a job, no matter how much you have planned it out.**

It was two weeks after the big ceremony; Katara, Sokka and Toph were at the Fire Nation palace, doing what they had done for the past weeks since the war was over: Nothing.

Zuko and Aang were making deals with the greatest leaders of all nations and Suki had returned with the other kunoichi warriors a week ago what had thrown Sokka into boredom as well.

"I never thought I'd say that but I miss the adventures and being constantly in danger fighting off some bastards" Toph said sighing. She was lying on the floor, exploring her nose while Sokka polished his boomerang for the hundredth time and Katara pet Momo who was half asleep.

"Yes, I miss beating some Fire Nation guys off" Sokka agreed. "I totally came out of training with all this spare time."

Katara rolled her eyes. "Don't be like that. I'm glad the war is finally over and that we have some free time now to do things we always wanted to do."

"Like…"? Toph asked snipping a bogey away. Katara opened her mouth to say something but shut it after a while as she had no answer.

"Maybe we should go and visit Appa, taking him for a ride, and then we could at least fly around a little bit" Sokka suggested shrugging.

"And what good would exactly come out of it?" Toph asked. She still hated flying and was glad that they had at least solid ground under their feet now.

"Don't know, maybe admiring the environment? Oh sorry" he added as Toph glared daggers at him.

"Well however, I'll go out and try to increase the handling of my boomerang" he said and stood up. Momo suddenly jumped up, hissing at Katara who had accidently stroke his fur too strong. Out of reaction he ran straight forward, between Sokka's feet. Sokka stumbled, trying to keep balance.

Suddenly an arrow flashed through the open window, missing Sokka's head by a hair's breadth and hitting into the wall.

For a second everyone froze and the siblings stared shocked at the arrow while Toph asked: "What just happened?"

Katara moved first and pushed her brother out of the way just in time as a second arrow almost hit him for a second time. "Go away from the window!" she yelled trying to push the glass panes close.

Before she could do it though, the door suddenly opened and a man rushed in. He was dressed in the fire nation soldier's uniform. Sokka just wanted to tell him what was going on when he collected fire in his hands, aiming for Katara. The water girl though reacted in time, bending some of the water she always was carrying around but only splashed it into the attacker's face. She didn't want to hurt him severely seeing that he wore the fire nation's uniform after all.

The attacker hissed in irritation, wiped the water away and was already preparing for a next attack when he suddenly froze, wide-eyed. Shock was seen in his face as he grasped with a shaking hand for his neck. When he pulled it back it was covered with red.

This throat was pierced by an arrow. Blood poured out of the wound, down his neck. He opened his mouth, trying to say something, but all that came out was this red metallic substance and a gurgling sound. The man stood there for some seconds, trying to gasp for air, breathing shallowly, before the life left him and he fell dead to the ground.

"What was that?!" Sokka exclaimed shocked when he found his voice again.

"Probably the adventure you two have wished." Katara answered with a slight pale face before she turned to the window. It had opened again slightly, enough for the arrow to fit through. Quickly she went over and shut it this time for good, pulling the curtains close. Surprisingly there was no other arrow following even though they all had been wonderful targets for a short time when they were distracted by the introducer.

"Is he dead?"

"Yes Toph. Yes, he is" Katara answered her softly.

"What should we do with the body?" Sokka asked touching the dead man with his foot.

"Just stop it!" Katara snapped and then threw a sorrowful looked at the now closed and blocked window. "He wasn't alone. We still have to take care of the one who shot these arrows. I'll call the guards." She was already half to the door when Sokka let out a surprised noise.

"What is it Sokka?" she asked frowning, turning to her brother who had crouched down next to the corpse studying the arrow. He then stepped to the wall where the other two weapons which had missed his head, were sticking.

Grinning proudly he said: "The arrows are different! The man was killed by a different kind of arrow than the ones which almost hit me!"

"And what does this mean Mr-genius?" Toph asked sarcastically.

"I don't know, but maybe it will become important later."

"Whatever" his sister said rolling her eyes and opened the door. "I'll get the guards."

She just had returned with two fire soldiers on her trace when a fire nation maid appeared at the door. "Master Katara, master Sokka, master Toph… There is a woman at the entrance who would like to speak with you three" she said bowing slightly.

"Speak about what?" Sokka asked confused.

"I don't know exactly, she just mentioned that you have one of her arrows and a corpse. She said she would like to have both of them back" the woman said shrugging helplessly.

The three shared a gaze, or whatever it is called in Toph's case, and followed the woman to the entrance of the main part of the royal palace.

There, watched closely by several guards who had refused to let her pass, was standing a young woman in a black cloak. Her black hair was short, her blue eyes studied the three benders as soon as they came in sight and on her back were a bow and a quiver.

"Hello, you wanted to speak us?" Katara greeted the stranger who only nodded in return. "I'm Katara, this is my brother Sokka and this is Toph" she said introducing everyone with a polite voice.

The woman studied every one of them and for some reason her eyes landed on Toph while she said: "I guess you already noticed that you were the targets of a luckily failed assassination. I would like to have the body and my arrow back, because the first may lead me to the other assassin that was involved, and the second is special equipment."

Toph's eyes suddenly widened as she recognized that voice…

It's been a long time since she last heard it, but she would never forget it.

"I think we can arrange that… Assassin" she said smiling. Sokka and Katara looked at her confused but then the young woman laughed slightly.

"So I wasn't wrong, you _are_ The Blind Bandit" she said with a smirk. "I never would have thought I'd meet you here. The rumors are true then: You headed off with the Avatar…"

"You know her?" Sokka asked Toph surprised, but being still suspicious about the stranger.

"Yeah…" the blind girl replied, remembering when she last heard that voice.

It was the first time she had participated in an Earth Rumble after she had been _watching_ the benders fight for weeks. She had fought like no one would ever have believed it. The young blind girl who in the beginning had been laughed at by everyone in the arena was now cheered at. She had been the new favorite one, the one everyone was not betting at. And then the end battle had finally come.

"And now the fight no one from us believed would come is about to happen: The Blind Bandit vs the current champion, The Assassin!" The crowd had been cheering and cheering in anticipation, yelling out their favorite's names.

The Assassin was a small woman from what Toph could feel. She had a very light step and wasn't so bold like the precious opponents had been.

"I watched you, Blind Bandit. You are very skilled I can tell" the woman said.

Toph narrowed her eyes. "Yeah and I will hit you out of the ring with my skills!"

"Yeah, do that girl!" "I bet my money on it!" "Hit her out!"

The woman just chuckled, ignoring the crowd like it didn't exist, only having eyes for her opponent. "I said skilled, but no that skilled" she said amused.

"Okay you two, I want a good fair fight, got it? Battle!"

It had been an awesome fight, more awesome than all the previous ones Toph have had before in her young life.

That was until Toph was crashed out of the ring.

"Oh and the Blind Bandit loses! The Assassin continues to be the champion!"

After that loss Toph hadn't let herself seen for some time in the arena. Instead she had trained every second possible without her parents finding out, until she had faced The Assassin finally again for a rematch.

"I'm glad you came back. I've thought you have given up" was the young woman's greeting after the lady assistants had taken the winning belt from her.

"You wish" Toph said more confident than she ever had been before. She knew that she could beat her opponent this time…

"Do I see that right? The Assassin really falls out of the ring! We have a new champion: The Blind Bandit!"

The crowd was cheering even louder than ever before if that was possible when the two assistants came to Toph, handing her the belt and money. She had never seen the Assassin again though and rumors had spread that she had stopped participating in Earth Rumble. That was until now…

"I never really congratulated you for your win. Your skills are indeed impressive" the young woman said now.

Toph grinned. She wouldn't admit it but the compliment meant a lot to her, seeing that she truly admired this woman and even had copied some of her moves. It had saddened Toph when she had received the news that the Assassin had stopped seeing that she had been the only really great challenge in her bender career.

"However, I would like to take the corpse with me" the woman said looking to Sokka and then to Katara.

"Why so?" Katara asked suspiciously. She somehow didn't trust this woman.

"One, I don't think you like to keep a rotting body in your room and two this guy was together with a professional assassin I'm hunting down for some time now and who has a big reward on his head. I guess that they had the mission to kill you and the guy lying in your room staining your carpet with blood was the spy they had in the royal palace. You can truly be glad that I came along just in time. Sadly I didn't catch the one with the bounty, but well… I'll track him down later then."

"You're a bounty hunter?" Sokka asked becoming suddenly very interested in that topic. Katara grimaced in disgust but she mentioned the woman to come in and guided her into the room where the corpse was.

Smiling proudly at her work The Assassin took out the arrow from the flesh, placing it back into the quiver. Then she lifted the corpse from off the ground and pulled it over her shoulder.

Wow, she surely is strong for a woman, Sokka thought impressed. Almost like Suki… Man I miss Suki, he thought sighing inwardly but was pulled out of his thoughts when the woman turned to leave.

"It was nice to see you again, bandit. I guess I'll be in town for two days, maybe we can have a rematch in the arena."

Toph looked at her confused. "Arena? But Gaoling is like an eternity away!"

The Assassin looked at her surprised but then chuckled. "Haven't you heart it yet? Now that the nations won't be that separated again, the earth benders who had come to the ceremony already had created their own little arena in the outskirts." She quickly explained the way to the underground earth rumble arena that was placed inside a hill. Toph just listened to her, shocked that she hadn't found out herself earlier, and angry that she just had spent the previous weeks lurking around in that boring palace while others beat each other in freaking fights only a few kilometers away!

"I will wait for you there, I'm sure you want to win back your champion title…" the woman who was grinning now widely said.

"What?! I am already the champion!" Toph exclaimed.

"Oh, you haven't heard yet? Well, you left with the Avatar but the Earth Rumble continued and the crowd wanted their champion. Sometime the host who by the way isn't Xin Fu anymore, decided to disqualify you. By pure chance I had come to Gaoling back then and well, became the champion again."

Toph looked furiously by now which made even Sokka stepping back. The woman however only said completely calm: "Well then, I leave now. We'll see us in the arena, Blind Bandit."

* * *

**Poor Toph, stripped off her title just like that… But oh well, maybe she'll gain it back in the next chapters so continue reading!**

**In the case it wasn't clear: The Assassin is also the woman from the previous chapter, the real assassin. And the enemy fire soldier she killed was the one who had shown her the plans of the palace in the last chapter.  
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**Please review!**


	3. Rule no 3: Expect unexpecting people

**I know it's been a while since I last updated. I'm focussing right now on my other stories becaus for this one I still only have some vague ideas but not a real plan yet... But I won't abandon it!**

**Enjoy reading!**

**Rule no 3: Always expect that someone unexpected may show up**

(Somewhere in the Earth Country)

"Is that everything you've got, you drunken bastard?!" The muscular big earth soldier yelled at the drunken man who had slumped down against a house wall after he had received a hit in the chest.

A crowd surrounded them, whispering and pointing at the figure and the soldier.

The soldier stepped closer to the mess of dirty clothes while unsheathing his sword, his chest was swollen regarding the audience he surely had now.

Groaning the drunken man rose to his feet stumbling, using the wall behind him as support. He chuckled.

"Wanna more?" he asked raising his fists and making some unsteady box moves while trying to keep his balance. The soldier narrowed his eyes and pointed his sword at his _opponent_.

"In the name of the Earth Kingdom, surrender you thief."

The drunken disturber looked at him confused. "I'm no thief. Just enjoyed that good beer, drowning my sorrow *hick* in alc. What's ya problem?" He giggled and stumbled, falling once again onto his butt and into the dirt. The crowd laughed in amusement and the soldier grinned, slowly stepping forward rising his sword.

"In the name of the Earth Kingdom, I will arrest you because of robbery… Don't you struggle or I have to force you."

The man just grinned from his spot on the ground. No one saw though that he had taken out a pocket knife from his pants, waiting for the right moment to attack the soldier.

"Force me? How you gonna force me? *Hic*. With this tiny sword?" he pointed at the blade and laughed. The soldier narrowed his eyes and growled in anger.

"You damn little-!"

Suddenly a little bomb exploded in between them, throwing the soldier off his feet and pushing the drunk farther into the wall. Dust rose, covering everyone's vision, making the sudden scared people cough and run away while the soldier looked around frantically, searching for the attacker.

Although when the dust vanished no attacker was in sight… as well as none drunk man.

* * *

A few alleys away said disturber was slammed into a wall and the tip of his own knife was pressed against his throat.

"You are more of a mess than I thought you would be" the person in front of him said. He was dressed in a dark cloak, a hood covering his face.

"It surely *hic* wasn't necessary for that action, mister. I had everything under control" the drunk said grinning, completely unfazed by the dangerous scene and the sharp blade at his throat.

"Drop that act, Leo, I know that you're actually not drunk. Or at least not that drunk" the attacker said growling.

The not quite so drunken man grinned. "So you know my name" he said with a sudden sober and clear voice "and you punched me out of that scene to drag me into that muddy little street… What do you want and who are you?"

"My name is unimportant. I and some friends of mine-"

"You have friends?!" Leo interrupted him with faked disbelief and laughed.

"-are business partners of your sister" he ended ignoring the interruption.

"Oh, my sis… How is she doing? I haven't seen her in a while." He grinned.

"She had a mission and a deadline but disappeared without completing the mission."

"Hm, that's unlike her. You probably didn't offer her enough money."

"Listen closely: Our organization is none to mess around with. If your sister won't finish the job within a week we will find and end her."

"Are you really foolish enough to threat the world's best assassin?" the young man growled.

"It's not a threat… It's a warning." The blade suddenly left the throat and the cloaked figure was gone within the blink of an eye. The young man picked up his knife with a sigh and brushed his clothes.

"Damn you sis, why am I always be drown into your jobs?" he mumbled while leaving the alley and the village.

* * *

Two days after the incident with the failed assassination and the appearance of the strange woman Zuko and Aang as well as their own personal guards came back to the palace. Of course the others instantly told them what had happened after promising that they were fine. However, when Zuko said he would gladly meet the woman to thank her, Toph threw in that they could visit the next Earth Rumble match as The Assassin had promised her to wait for her. And even though Katara wasn't fund of the idea to watch again some bulky men throwing stones at each other, they all agreed on it at the end.

In the same evening the group walked to where the tournament was set place. It was exactly where The Assassin had told them it would be. They took seats in one of the boxes which were placed in the middle of the ranks. Zuko and Aang had disguised themselves and had sneaked out of the palace without their guards noticing them to do so. Trying to hide their features they were dressed in long cloaks with hoodies which they had pulled deeply into their faces. They didn't want to get attraction as they only wanted to see and thank the woman who had rescued their friends.

"Do you see her?" Aang asked, gazing like everyone else around the arena for the stranger except for Toph who firstly was blind and secondly was still sulking about the fact that she wasn't champion anymore.

"Nope" Sokka stated "but I can't await the matches to start!" His sister only rolled her eyes about his enthusiasm.

Suddenly a man jumped down into the middle of the arena, earning him yelling and cheering from the ranks until he managed to calm the people down with his hands held up.

"Alright ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the royal underground battle! My name's Li and I have a great surprise for you! Today we've got a special guest, someone who came a long way and is greeting us now in our small arena. Fans of Earth Rumble, may I present you, the one and only, world's champion, The Assassin!" For a moment it was dead silent, everyone just stared at the figure that suddenly appeared next to Li from under the earth, wrapped in a smooth looking dark green cloak. But then she threw it away, revealing that it was indeed the woman who had saved their lives. She wore the green belt around her waist and was dressed in a long green shirt and dark pants. She also was bare foot and her expression was determined and self-conscious.

The crowd exploded. They cheered, yelled, and laughed; the whole arena was shaking from the enthusiasm. Toph slammed Sokka into the wall as he was about to join the cheering, still pissed off.

"This is her?" Zuko asked and Katara nodded with a frown.

"We're changing today's matches a little bit. Everyone who wants can try to battle the Assassin. Now then, who will be her first opponent?" Just then something let the arena shake when a big figure jumped down opposite to the woman.

"The Boulder will be your opponent, woman."

"Wait, even that guy knew that here's an arena?! And he didn't inform me?!" Toph said angrily. "Bastard."

"Alright, I want a fair fight. Get ready… Go!"

It didn't take a minute and The Boulder was out, making Sokka almost faint as he was still a great fan from him. He was still having The Boulder's autograph he got on the day when Toph and Aang were kidnapped; a long long time ago.

The next opponent, and the next, and the next; every one of them quickly found their ways out of the arena. The cheering became louder and louder, and Toph angrier and angrier.

The woman was still having that straight expression screaming victory and skill. She enjoyed the attraction but didn't let herself being carried away from it. She was concentrating, analyzing quickly her opponent's strengths and weaknesses, and like Toph she was waiting until she stroked. She surely was skillful and Aang as well as Sokka watched her with their mouths wide open. Even Katara were watching the fights curiously.

After the eighth round was finished, The Assassin suddenly whispered something into the host's ear and his eyes widened before he turned to the crowd.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I just received the news that we have another special guest in the arena today" he spoke quickly and excited. In the box Team Avatar exchanged a confused and worried look.

"Not only is the current champion in the arena today, but also the previous one. The Blind Bandit!"

"Hey Toph are you-" Aang stopped midsentence when he had turned around but Toph wasn't there anymore.

"She's already in the arena" Sokka said grinning. "Go Toph! Avenge The Boulder! Kick her ass!" he yelled making Katara smack him.

"Stop that!"

The Assassin who had a slight smirk on her lips stared at Toph. "I'm glad you came. I was already looking forward to that little match."

"I'm going to throw you out of the ring in the first millisecond" Toph replied pointing at her opponent with a grin.

"Is this really a good idea letting them fight each other?" Aang asked worried. This woman had saved his friends, he wanted to thank her and not that Toph started to battle her. But Sokka only shrugged.

"Why not, it surely will be fun to watch" he only said.

"Fight!" Li yelled, jumping back. Both of the fighters sent a column of stones at each other, they clashed in the middle and the force made the arena shake. Spears of earth pierced through the surface, stones were thrown and changed into dust, and the ground was turned into sticky sand. It was a brilliant battle, the crowd was about to flip out along with Sokka, when suddenly smoke bombs were exploding in the middle of the arena, creating a thick shield of dust.

Toph frowned. She had heard something exploding and then The Assassin was suddenly gone. She couldn't even detect her as the woman had a really light step, almost as light as Twinkletoes'. Did she quit the fight? Coward.

Aang, Zuko, Sokka and Katara jumped down from the box landing next to Toph, not caring if anyone would see them as the arena was still covered in dust anyway.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" Toph asked confused about the disruption. Where was that damn woman?

"Three smoke bombs just have exploded, we wanted to see if you're okay" Katara answered.

"Well apparently I am but that Assassin is gone."

"Where is she?" Sokka asked.

"Gone! I just said that! But there's a passage right in front of us, she only could have disappeared this way."

* * *

The Assassin was slammed against the wall; a knife was placed at her throat. In the meantime though, an earth spear was pointing at her attacker's neck.

"Oh sis; tempered and quick like always" the figure said and then looked up at the woman grinning.

The Assassin narrowed her eyes at him. "What do you want, Leo?" she hissed without removing the spear.

The man called Leo shrugged. "I wanted to come by and see you again. It's been ages since we last met. And I wanted to know in what kind of a mess you're in now. Such a guy located me recently and told me that you messed up a job and now he and his organization are pissed. Also you've got a week to finish this mission or they will track you down. He sounded pretty serious but more importantly: What happened that you messed up a job?"

The woman sighed. "Leo… couldn't you have come by at another time? I was in the middle of a freaking battle!" she growled angrily without answering his question.

Leo shrugged. "I could have but this way it was more fun. Did you notice that even the Fire Lord and the Avatar were watching the fight?"

"Yes. The blind girl, my opponent, is one of their friends and I'm sure that they will come around this corner every second so get out of my sight!"

"Not so fast. First you tell me about the job."

She stared at him before she sighed and explained: "My next targets are the Avatar, the Fire Lord and their friends. I had the chance to finish off the friends but I didn't and now my purchasers are slightly upset I guess."

"Why didn't you kill them then? It's impossible that you missed."

She smiled. "Thanks for the compliment, brother, but the reason is none of your concern. Maybe I will tell you later but now you have to go. They will be here in any second. Don't worry; I will take care of this."

With a sigh Leo removed the knife from her throat and she let the earth spear fall to the ground again.

"Hit me. Please."

Leo grinned. "You don't have to say please to me for doing that." He hit her hard in the stomach and then in the face, knocking her on the ground. Giving the woman one last gaze the young man turned around and left just when Team Avatar came around the corner.

* * *

**Please leave a review to let me know what you think about this story so far!  
**


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